Welcome to Hamilton Street Gallery, located in downtown Bound Brook, New Jersey, is an exhibition space for contemporary visual art. We welcome both emerging and established artists residing in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. All media is considered and we encourage work that is new and experimental. There will be 6 or 7 annual group exhibits, some of which will be juried and curated by our gallery staff, and others by guest curators. Shows will run between 6 and 8 weeks. They will be thematic and versatile in nature, ranging from whimsical to the audacious, providing artists with the means to articulate their ideas about the world. Also, we hope to stimulate the creative pulse of the community by conveying an atmosphere in which to experience a focused, personal and enriching engagement with art.

UPCOMING EXHIBITION

Dig
March 18th to April 26th, 2018
Opening reception Sunday March 18th 2 to 5 pm
Existentially these are challenging times for free thinkers. We are continually bombarded with information designed to influence our every thought, feeling, and action. With perfect algorithmic efficiency, a trepidatious flow of tweets, alternative facts and fake news exudes an overwhelming sense of disturbing uneasiness. The lines between relevancy and irrelevancy, understanding and confusion, sense and nonsense disappear, as does trust, leaving us in a state of starvation for the truth. Fortunately for artists, our right to free speech is still intact, so we can seek out the truth and DIG DEEPER.
For this juried exhibition, 21 artists were selected to investigate the idea of digging in a variety of ways, ranging from the literal to the abstract. Artists presented work in different media including painting, watercolor, gouache, photography, collage, encaustic, sculpture and installation. While all of the artists demonstrate a creative focus as to what lies beneath the surface, some display imagery reflective of their own personal journey, and others examine the troubling misconceptions within the social/political arena. As has been historically evident in times past, artists are seekers of the truth and accept the unique challenge to explore and uncover the influential and manipulative forces that activate within our culture.

INFORMATION FOR MURAL ARTISTS

Some samples of Grades K-12 inspirational ideas for murals – Download all of the pictures in a PDF on the prospectus

The Bound Brook Arts Committee is looking to employ an artist or artist team, for the Spring of 2018 to paint a mural on the south wall in the Douglass Diner Parking lot located on the corner of Hamilton and Main Streets. The wall measures approximately 35’ W x 33’ H and is very visible from the street and the NJ Transit train route (picture of wall provided). The artist(s) will be chosen from a threefold jurying process, first, from jpegs submitted of preliminary drawings, and then secondly from detailed colored renditions. In the final stage, qualified submissions will be reviewed by the Bound Brook Arts Committee Panel, and three applicants will be chosen to submit a full proposal. This will consist of: information about design and installation of the mural, including wall preparation, painting supplies, scaffolding, labor, insurance, a budget outline, and a timeline for completion. From these three artists, one artist or artist team will be chosen as the winning candidate.

Concept

The idea for the mural is centered on an historical representation of Bound Brook’s legendary Council Oak Tree. It is recorded that in 1681, under this tree, two Lenni Lenape chiefs known as Konackama and Queromak sold the area now known as the Borough of Bound Brook to Governor Philip Cartaret and seven other wealthy
landowners for “100 pounds of various goods.” This beloved tree is over 300 years old and still stands on Maple Avenue near the parking lot of the Presbyterian Church located on Mountain Avenue. In addition to the main focus of the Council Oak Mural, artists will be expected to include in their designs various depictions of events and persons throughout Bound Brook’s unique, diverse and multicultural history. The following books are excellent resources that include a rich array of pictures and detailed stories, that will assist the artist in imagining visual narratives essential to the composition of the mural:

1. Under The Council Oak written by Helen Kuhn, Jane Spangler and David Steele for the Bicentennial of 1976. This can be downloaded as a PDF from www.hamiltonstreetgallery.com

This book is available at the Bound Brook Library and is also for sale at the Union Avenue Pharmacy on Union
Avenue and at Barnes and Noble book store on the Somerville Circle.

Also, The Bound Brook Arts Committee has chosen a selection of drawings by Bound Brook students from grades K to 12 and would like to include these imaginative ideas to be interpreted within the design of the
mural. (These images are included in this PDF.)

Eligibility

Artists or artists teams should be 18 years or older and should have experience with painting outdoor murals, including wall preparation and scaffolding and/or mechanical lifts and experience creating a working budget.

Budget

The maximum budget for the Council Oak Mural Project is $15,000. The funds shall be used for design,
materials, labor, transportation, insurance, and installation costs ie: scaffolding or mechanical lift rental, and other related miscellaneous items, such as travel expenses.

Council Oak Mural Project Timeline

Deadline for First Jurying submissions: February 9th, 2018
Notification date of chosen drawing: February 12th, 2018
Deadline for Second Jurying of detailed color renditions: March 9th, 2018
Notification date of 3 finalists chosen: March 12th, 2018
Deadline for submission of full proposal of 3 finalists: April 9th, 2018
Notification of Final Artist/Artist team elected: April 20th, 2018
Project Start Date: May 14th, 2018
Project Completion time: Summer/Fall of 2018
Submission Guidelines for First Jurying

Enter 3 digital submissions of preliminary drawings of your concept for the Council Oak Mural along with a one page written proposal. From the three submissions, one drawing will be chosen for the second jurying process. Submissions should be in JPEG format with your name and number identifying the drawing, no larger than 1000 x 1000 pixels at 72 dpi.

From the chosen drawing, artists will submit a detailed color rendition, to the scale of the wall, in the 2 dimensional media of their choice that will clearly represent their idea for the Council Oak Mural. From these color renditions, three finalists will be selected, one of which will be chosen as the recipient of the commission. As listed above, submissions should be in JPEG format no larger than 1000 x 1000 pixels at 72 dpi. Please send completed work to info@hamiltonstgallery.com

Deadline date – March 9th, 2018

Notification date – March 12th, 2018

Submission Guidelines for Final Jurying

The jurying process shall be completed by the Bound Brook Arts Committee Panel, comprised of elected borough officials, a theater director, an attorney, arts educators and professional artists
Artists will be judged on:

Quality of work submitted

Originality of design in aesthetic relationship to the subject

Knowledge, and practicality in regard to materials and techniques

Ability to complete project within a proposed timeframe and budget

The three finalists chosen will be required to supply a full proposal for the Council Oak Mural Project from start to finish. This includes wall preparation, a listed description of materials to be used, processes and applications to be used, knowledge of weather resistant materials, a complete budget outline and a proposed timeframe toward
completion. Please send complete proposal to info@hamiltonstgallery.com